North American window and door manufacturers are being confronted to a MUCH greater degree right with rising input costs as unemployment declines and as minimum wages are rising. Additionally, the task of processing and delivering a high quality product on time is made ever more complex with growing sets of options and performance requirements. And in today’s competitive world, every serious manufacturer will need to achieve greater efficiency/higher performance. In addition to making a great product, manufacturers MUST take advantage of the latest technology in production equipment AND software technology!

The fenestration manufacturing industry – including suppliers – come in many different sizes and “shapes” and yet all have the potential to benefit from the investments in technology. Klaes - a Rosenheim, Germany based company with 200 employees in 27 countries – has grown from start up to a global cutting edge status within the window, door and façade industry.

Under the theme "The more things change, the less they are the same," the annual conference of the Quebec fenestration association, AVFQ, will take place from February 14 to 16 at the Bonne Entente in the authentic and historic city of Quebec. The programming of this conference is under the theme of the future and the transformations that our industry will experience in the coming years. Thus, the confrence will inform and clarify concepts and practices that are likely to have an impact on working methods in the near future.

Jan. 22, 2018 - A conference ideally offers opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of developments that can positively impact your business and hopefully implement those changes at the right time. Today, we’re all hearing a LOT of chatter about Industry 4.0 and various ideas built around automation – taking advantage of sophisticated equipment combined with high tech software and presumably, people capable of making it work!

Jan. 18, 2018 - There seem to be a LOT of people in Canada who are very frustrated by the state of the industry as it relates the NAFS regulation dilemma – or whatever you want to call it. In a nutshell, a very important element of the Canadian window manufacturing and marketing environment began to change at least 10 years ago. To this day, the response to those changes has been mediocre. There is more than one theory but www.FenCon18.com will deliver some more important components to solving those issues. Furthermore, several sessions at FenCon18 will solicit and entertain the input of window and manufacturing leaders!

FenCon18, happening March 1 at the Victoria Inn Hotel and Convention Centre in Winnipeg, follows up the amazing success of initial Fenestration Manitoba window and door manufacturing conference in 2017 with even more cutting edge information and suppliers for fenestration professionals. Organizers have kept some of the preferred features through a one-day event packed full of seminars while moving that day to a Thursday and slightly later to March 1 for early spring timing. The 2018 edition is building on some of the very well-received topics – Continuous Improvement, ERP software systems and factory automation – but also bringing in a crisper focus on key topics such as more effectively implementing NAFS, finishing options excellent for fiberglass door panels and special cold-climate performance topics.

Nov. 27, 2017 - WinDoor show organizers are alerting travellers to the WinDoor show – Nov. 28 - 30 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. – of scheduled lane closures on the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto. Fortunately, with the show's move this year to Mississauga, only those travelling from downtown Toronto will be affected. Attendees from elsewhere in the province and arrivals at the airport will be unaffected.

Nov. 9, 2017 - WinDoor organizers have announced that Jersey Seasons, a Frankie Valli tribute band, will provide the entertainment for the Wednesday night Main Event on Nov. 29 at the Embassy Grand Convention Centre in Brampton, Ont. The Main Event is a new networking opportunity designed by Fenestration Canada to draw together show attendees and exhibitors in a social setting following the day’s activities at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont.

Nov. 3, 2017 - WinDoor show organizers are reporting strong numbers ahead of WinDoor's return to the Toronto area, Nov. 29 - 30 at the International Centre in Mississauga, Ont. The national show for the Canadian window and door industry took place in Montreal for the first time last year, to great response, and is now seeing indicators trending up ahead of last years' pace.

In a modern era where knowledge is generally accepted as key, it would seem to make perfect sense to invest critical time and energy targeted in that direction. Events such as the Fenestration West 2017 industry conference 2017, a one day conference in the B.C. lower mainland on October 26, offered a unique opportunity to learn from some cutting-edge urban leaders an d enjoy some of the world’s most amazing sites such as Whistler. Cutting-edge urban leaders? Just talk to Chris Higgins for a few minutes - looking like a bearded evangelist of environmentalism – and you come away a smattering of an understanding of the passion and commitment and connection to organizations such as C40.

Oct. 31, 2017 - The American Architectural Manufacturers Association (AAMA) will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, for the AAMA 81st Annual Conference, to be held Feb. 19-22, 2018, at the Loews Portofino Bay at Universal Studios. While making travel arrangements, please note that this is the first conference AAMA is hosting with the association's new Monday through Thursday conference schedule, as opposed to the previous Sunday through Wednesday timeframe.

There was a heavy wind load morning–gusts of up to 90 km/h–when Fenestration Manitoba held the latest of its seminar series, entitled Glass, A World of Change, at the Norwood Hotel in Winnipeg on October 18th. Approximately 60 local industry representatives attended the breakfast seminar, featuring two American fenestration professionals talking about the present and future of glass, Raymond Roy, an Ohio-based regional technical advisor with Guardian Industries, and Jim Larsen, director of technology marketing with Cardinal Glass Industries in Minneapolis.